“It’s cheaper overall to own and maintain a motorcycle and parking is cheaper,” said Vance, 25, adding that if he were to use a motorcycle, he wouldn’t have to pay to park on the streets of Arlington, Va., where he works.

Vance, a resident of Arlington, recently completed a course in the Rider School at Howard Community College, which teaches novices how to properly and safely handle motorcycles.

He is one of many recent students in the program who, thanks in part to the rise in gas prices, are taking a closer look at motorcycles, according to Jim Schmidt, the Rider School’s director.

“Before, when we would ask people why they would take the class, they would say, ‘To save money on gas — wink wink.’ That’s what they would tell their spouses to take the class,” Schmidt said. “But now people are saying they’re taking the class really to save money on gas.”

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